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These Vegan Tofu Nuggets are baked and not fried and taste just like Southern fried chikin with my secret marinade & spice mix! Nutfree Glutenfree. Your whole family will love these!
Stop what you’re doing and go marinate some tofu NOW because you don’t want to miss out on these Crispy Baked Vegan Tofu Nuggets! They are my new favorite vegan party snack – well, along with my Baked General Tso Cauliflower!
I use the spices used for southern fried chicken and add them to the coating and the marinade. Together they add so much amazing flavor. These are perfectly crispy on the outside and wonderfully meaty on the inside – seriously the best texture and flavor thanks to some key tips and a delicious tofu marinade. Seriously, if you know someone who dislikes tofu, give them these Tofu Nuggets and their minds will be changed forever.
Now there are two things that are super important for making the perfect Tofu Nuggets.
Number one: you need to press your tofu! For most of my tofu recipes, I recommend pressing your tofu, and this is no exception. Squeeze all that excess water out of your tofu. This will give you much better tofu and will prepare it for my tofu nuggets. Use extra firm tofu so that you don’t end up with squishy bites.
tip #2 Marinate your tofu. Let the pressed tofu sit in the marinade a minimum of 5 minutes. We really want the marinade to soak up into the insides of the tofu, making the texture even better. You can marinate your tofu for 30 minutes, or even overnight.
More vegan party food:
Everything Bagel seasoning Tofu
Baked Tofu Nuggets
Ingredients
- 14 ounce extra firm tofu pressed for at least 20 minutes
For the marinade:
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce, or tamari for gluten-free
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 2 teaspoons oil
For spice coating
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Ground sage
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon celery seeds or use ½ teaspoon celery salt and use only ¼ salt earlier
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- A generous pinch each of cinnamon,, nutmeg and allspice
- 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning or mix of 1/8 teaspoons each of sage,, thyme, rosemary
- 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, or tapioca starch
To serve
- vegan barbeque or vegan ranch or hot sauce or dips of choice
- Garnish cilantro or green onion
Instructions
- Press the tofu if you haven’t already, then break into bite size pieces using your hands. Keep them at least 1 inch in size, add to a bowl.
- Marinate: Then add the marinade ingredients to the bowl and toss well to coat, let the tofu sit for 5 minutes(or longer in the fridge till ready to bake)
- Spice coating: In another small bowl add all of the coating ingredients and 1 ½ tablespoons of corn starch and mix really well.
- The marinade should have gotten absorbed in the tofu, there shouldn’t be any liquid left. Sprinkle all of the spice coating mixture over the tofu and toss well to coat. If the tofu is too wet then add some more cornstarch, 1 teaspoon at a time. Then spread this tofu on parchment lined baking sheet and keep at least ½ inch distance between all the pieces.
- Bake at 400F(205c) for 20-25 minutes or until the tofu is crisp to preference
- Depending on the brand of tofu, if it’s a good extra firm tofu then the coating will get crisp around 23-24 minutes and if the tofu is a bit softer then the outside will get crisp, but tofu might be somewhat soft in the middle.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven then let it cool for a few minutes before plating it and serving it with dips of choice. You can also use this tofu to add to wraps or tacos or serve it as a side.
Video
Notes
- Tear your tofu instead of slicing it into cubes. Tearing your tofu means there are more rough edges for not only the marinade to soak into, but for the cornstarch spice mix to coat the tofu.
- For extra crispy tofu: use 1/4 -1/3 cup breadcrumbs instead of cornstarch
- To make this soy free, use 12-14 oz seitan or use cauliflower florets. Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce
- Variation: use (6-7 oz)dry soycurls, then rehydrate in warm stock, squeeze out excess stock and proceed.
- To make this without onion garlic, omit them and add 1/8 teaspoon asafetida(hing) or 1/8 teaspoon fenugreek powder. If you don’t have these, add a teaspoon of miso to the marinade and add 1/2 teaspoon a oregano to the spice mix
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients:
- for this recipe, we need extra firm tofu pressed for at least 20 minutes
- For the spicy marinade, we blend soy sauce with hot sauce and a small amount of oil
- for the spice coating, we blend nutritional yeast with salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, sage, paprika, celery seeds, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice
- cornstarch is used as a coating to crisp up
Tips:
- Tear your tofu instead of slicing it into cubes. Tearing your tofu means there are more rough edges for not only the marinade to soak into, but for the cornstarch spice mix to coat the tofu.
- After adding the spiced mixture to the marinated tofu, you should go with your gut. If the tofu still feels a bit too wet then add some more cornstarch, 1 teaspoon at a time.
- Depending on the brand of tofu, you might have slightly different textures. I recommend you invest in a good extra firm tofu
- Instead of the celery salt, you can use ½ teaspoon celery salt and use only ¼ salt earlier
How to make Crispy Baked Tofu Nuggets
Press the tofu if you haven’t already, then break into bite-size pieces using your hands. Keep them at least 1 inch in size, add to a bowl.
Then add the marinade ingredients and toss well to coat, let the tofu sit for 5 minutes.
In another small bowl add all of the coating ingredients and 1 ½ tablespoons of corn starch and mix really well.
The marinade should have gotten absorbed in the tofu, there shouldn’t be any liquid left.
Sprinkle all of the spiced coating mixture over the tofu and toss well to coat. After adding the spiced mixture, if the tofu is too wet then add some more cornstarch, 1 teaspoon at a time.
then spread this tofu on a parchment line baking sheet and keep at least ½ inch distance between all the pieces.
Then bake at 400F (205c) for 20-25 minutes or until the tofu is crisp to preference
Depending on the brand of tofu, if it’s good extra firm tofu then the coating will get crisp around 23-24 minutes and if the tofu is a bit softer then the outside will get crisp, but tofu might be somewhat soft in the middle.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven then let it cool for a few minutes before plating it and serving it!.
Serve
Serve these immediately with dips of choice. These are best served right out of the oven. The pieces will tend to soften after sitting for an hour or so. They will still taste amazing though!
You can also use this tofu to add it to lettuce or tortilla wraps or tacos! You can also serve it as a side.
Thank you Richa,
I like the recipe
thank youu so muuch
Another hit! The Flavor and texture is addicting!!! Served it with potatoes and green beans. Mine were shaped a bit more fillets, than nuggets and therefor, needed to double the recipe for the marinade.
ouuunds great
These were so very good!
Easy to make and even easier to work down… 🙂
Great spice blend.
Thank you for offering a onion/garlic free option!
Wolf down… not work down, but perhaps both work with this delish dish.
aha!
glad you appreciated that
I reckon next time I’m going to save some, crumble it up for a sandwich filling, lovely
sounds like a plan
You are the best
😆
This is delicious tofu! We put it on top of a green salad and really enjoyed it. Thank you, Vegan Richa! 😍
Yay!!
We have access to super firm tofu and I like to use it rather than press extra firm. Will this work, or will super firm not absorb the marinade as well as extra firm pressed?
It should work just fine. Add another tsp cornstarch if the coating feels sticky and wet
Do you have any suggestions about making this in an airfryer?
I haven’t tried it but it should work. I’d say keep moving them every 10 mins and check at the 20 mins mark if done
Looks amazing! I think you have a typo, though. Where you say “To make this soy free, use (6-7 oz)rehydrated soycurls, or 12-14 oz seitan and proceed. Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce,” I am pretty sure that soycurls aren’t soy free. Was that meant to go underneath its own entry as an alternative?
Yes it should under tofu free 🙂
Sounds delish. What is the hot sauce used in the marinade? Thankyou
I use franks . You can use any. Tabasco sriracha or other vinegar based hot sauce
‘To make this soy free, use (6-7 oz)rehydrated soycurls’. How does that make any sense?
Oops. Updated